Computer Speed: Not Shared Evenly

There are more Americans with residential broadband access these days.

But the nation still faces a serious racial gap when it comes to who is able to get online at high speed. A look at Census data by the Commerce Department finds that overall, the number of U.S. households with high-speed Internet access grew sevenfold from 2001 to 2009. But the growth wasn’t evenly spread among all population groups. Even after factoring out other reasons, whites and Asian-Americans were still more likely to have broadband access than African-Americans and Hispanics. The report is likely to help guide Congress and the Federal Communications Commission as they develop policies to make sure that all Americans have access to affordable high-speed Internet service.